Aircraft passengers are increasingly demanding in-flight entertainment (IFE) and electrical power outlets to operate various personal electronic devices, such as laptop computers, at their seats. To provide the passenger with such features, electrical power and data must be delivered to each seat. Conventionally, power and data are delivered to aircraft passenger seats via numerous cables that, during aircraft assembly, are laid out in position on the floor of the aircraft passenger cabin. A portion of the cables is positioned beneath a covering, such as the seat track cover, and a portion that includes connectors to the seats is left exposed to connect with the yet to be installed seat groups containing each passenger seat.
During installation of the seat groups, the seat groups must be carried in over the exposed wires. Taking care to avoid the exposed wires increases both the complexity of the operation and the amount of time required to install the seats. Once the seats are installed, installers must crawl along the floor of the aircraft to manually attach each wire to each seat group. This process is cumbersome and time consuming. Further, in order to change the configuration of the seats or to replace the seats, an installer must again crawl along the floor, disconnect the wiring from each group, and maneuver the seats around the exposed wiring. Still further, in order to change the position of the seat groups, the aircraft must be re-wired so that the wiring will reach the seats in their new positions. As would be expected, re-wiring an aircraft is a costly and time consuming process.
One solution is to provide an improved device for delivering power to aircraft passenger seat groups. Such a device includes a power bus and a connector operable to provide a connection between the power bus and the passenger seats. Power and/or data can be transmitted between the power bus and the passenger seats, via the connector, at any point along the power bus, thus eliminating the need to run separate connections between the power and/or data source and each passenger seat.
However, in running the power current through the power bus and passenger seats, it is possible that an interruption or break within the system may occur. For example, a wire or connector could detach, or a passenger seat may not be properly coupled to the power bus. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a safety system that switches off the power supply to the power bus system when a break in the circuit is detected.